Where the Red Moon Rises
by Lioness of Gryffindor
Summary: Even the best authoresses have a hard time thinking up story summaries : Chapter 1 up.


Disclaimer: I do not know anyone personally or impersonally that has anything to do with the REAL Harry Potter characters, so that's that.

Happy Reading - Erie

Chapter One: It's Just a Matter of Waiting

The September air hung heavy with frost and dew in the early morning mist; and the sun glistened white off of the first snowfall that covered the grounds of Hogwarts Castle. Inside the castle the house-elves busied themselves by making piles of sweetbreads and porridge, the noise from the kitchens could be heard, and smelled all throughout the long corridors.

A few teachers were already patrolling the hallways and corridors making sure that no students were misbehaving so early on a Saturday. With the holidays coming nearer and snow finally making an appearance, the students were prone to bouts of misbehavior. The Weasley twins were two of the select few that were already up and enjoying the morning. They were also, two of the students the teachers had to make sure to keep special watch over… needless to say, no matter how close the twins were watched, they always managed to get away with something.

Up in the boys' dormitories in Gryffindor Tower sleepy teenagers stretched and rubbed their eyes. Harry Potter yawned as he sat up in his warm, four-poster bed. He shared the dormitory with a few other boys, including his best friend Ron Weasley. He reached over and grabbed his glasses and shoved them on his face in an early morning rush. As he slid out of bed he took notice that his too small pajamas were in fact finally too, too small. The end that was supposed to fall to his ankle, actually ended in the middle of his calf. He sighed and noted that on his next visit to Hogsmeade he would have to stop by Mrs. Fickler's Fashions and Fabrics.

"Hey, Harry, there's snow on the ground. Get dressed will ya, and we'll meet Hermione for breakfast." Harry looked over at Ron, and smiled. "All right, I'm going!" He quickly dressed in a pair of old jeans and the sweater that Mrs. Weasley had given him last Christmas. Rummaging around in his trunk for a pair of socks he found a chocolate frog, and shoved it hungrily in his mouth. "Got any more of those, mate?" an already dressed Ron asked, as he plopped down on Harry's bed. "Dunno, just found that one in here."

The redhead pouted a bit but almost as suddenly was grinning again. "Gimme that shoe will you?" Harry asked Ron as he tied one of his worn out sneakers. "You really need some new clothes Harry, or at least old clothes that fit you and aren't falling apart." Harry laughed and rolled his green eyes, as he caught his sneaker. "I know, next time we're in Hogsmeade I'll get some."

Harry didn't even bother with trying to comb his hair. It was no use, the mess of black on top of his head never wanted to lay flat no matter what he did to it. He and Ron ran down the staircase into the middle of the Gryffindor common room. The circular room was full of squishy armchairs and tables, with random books piled on them.

Hermione's ginger cat, Crookshanks lay curled up on a rug by the fireplace that was lit with a small fire, just big enough to keep the stone room warm. Harry wondered aimlessly if his owl, Hedwig was warm enough in the school owlery. She probably wasn't even there; she was probably still out hunting for food for all he knew.

"Hey, Hermione." Harry greeted Hermione at the breakfast table, and helped himself to scrambled eggs, sausages, and bacon. Ron was already piling on flapjacks, biscuits and gravy onto his plate when he spoke through a mouthful of food. "Oots kinduf eeird, oo know, dis eeing oour las year a Ogwarfs." Hermione nodded, "It was a miracle really, that they even managed to keep the school open, with all that's happened." She paused and stared at her breakfast a second and the continued, "With Dumbledore… dead, and all, well, I was really surprised that nothing happened over the summer… Voldemort is planning something, that's for sure. He would have never been out of the picture for this long if there wasn't something big that he was planning to do, Harry."

Harry looked at his plate and pretended to be too interested in his eggs to notice what Hermione was saying, but he knew that she was right. They all knew that she was right. After Headmaster Dumbledore was killed last summer Harry was certain that Voldemort's next target would be the school, but surprisingly all the summer was quiet and without news as to what the Dark Lord was planning.

Harry was determined at the end of last year that he wasn't going to return to the school, even if it did manage to stay open, and Ron and Hermione were going to stay with him, he just didn't know where he was going to go. He planned to read about Voldemort's next attack in The Daily Prophet and set off looking for him from there. Harry's full intention was to fulfill the prophecy he had heard in the ministry that night and kill Voldemort off for good.

He still needed to find the last remaining horcruxes, and he figured that that alone would take a matter of a few months, and honestly he didn't know if he had that time left. It was just a matter of waiting, the second that either he, Ron or Hermione heard anything they planned to leave the castle and start looking for Voldemort.

Harry's thoughts were interrupted by the footsteps of two people walking towards him. "…Harry?" It was Fred and George, Ron's older brothers. "Harry, you need to come with us, something's happened…"

tbc


End file.
